


Meeting god at a party

by Redleaveshavefallen



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: AU, Everyone's alive, M/M, Neku and Josh have never met, background shiki/eri, they're at a house party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23268814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Redleaveshavefallen/pseuds/Redleaveshavefallen
Summary: “Oh for the love of—what?” Neku turned off his music, glaring at the boy—at Joshua.“What do you think it means to truly know someone, Neku?”Neku turned his music back on; maybe he wouldn’t notice and would just keep talking.“No, Neku, please indulge me. Do any of these people truly know each other? Even as they talk together, even as the alcohol makes them honest and open, they can’t truly let each other in. Everyone lives in their own separate—Neku, where are you going?”(Neku is dragged to a house party and meets god. Rated teen for swearing.)
Relationships: Kiryu "Joshua" Yoshiya/Sakuraba Neku
Comments: 5
Kudos: 109





	Meeting god at a party

**Author's Note:**

> My significant other started playing the TWEWY switch port again so I finally decided to finish this WIP that has been in my fanfic folder for literally 6 years.
> 
> Hope you like it!

Neku wasn’t sure why he was at this party.  
  


Well, that wasn’t _quite_ true. Eri was invited to this college party, and then Eri dragged Shiki, who then dragged Neku as emotional support. And under normal circumstances that would be okay. Sure, he hated every person here with every fiber of his being, and he totally didn’t fit in at all, but Shiki also didn’t fit in, and they could wallflower together.

But Shiki was always trying to be more social and outgoing like Eri so _of course_ she had glued herself to the girl’s hip, feeding her inferiority complex by painting on a grin and laughing at some stranger’s drunken jokes. The red solo cup in _her_ hand, he noticed, hadn’t been sipped once. Neku, with all his love for her, would never understand her need to fit in with these people.

With Shiki and Eri floating in the middle of the sea of bodies, Neku was left on his own. So, leaning against the wall, alone, surrounded by obnoxious strangers, with no reason for being there, he was left with one resounding thought:

 _What the hell am I doing here?_   
  
Ducking down into the collar of his shirt, Neku drifted away from the crowd, attempting to put as much distance between himself and the mass of party-goers as possible. (‘Drifted’ was probably too graceful of a word; his escape involved a lot of squeezing through and shoving by drunk 20-somethings.) The backyard was a bit nicer than the claustrophobia-trap posing as a house, but there were still a fair number of people playing Frisbee on the grass and laughing over beers. Searching for the quietest corner he could find, Neku peeked behind a toolshed on the edge of the yard.

No one was there.

The tension in his shoulders instantly disappeared. He sat down on the grass, making himself right at home on a patch of grass not wet with spilled beer. The hoots and hollers, buzzed laughter and inescapable bass of the music were still there, but as he turned up his headphones and leaned back against the shed it all seemed to fade into the background.

“I see you’re not planning on leaving.”

Neku jumped; his head turned so fast it felt like something cracked. A young-looking boy sat beside him, leaning against the shed with all the comfort in the world. A soft frown was set on his pointed features, all put together with a skeptically raised brow (the very arc of which practically screamed ‘ _what are you doing in my spot?’_ ).

Neku was wondering the same thing; he could swear the place had been empty a second ago. Had this guy been invisible or something?

“Where the hell did you come from?”

“My mother, presumably. Were you planning on just sitting next to me without introducing yourself? Because I usually only allow people with _manners_ to share my company.”

Neku grimaced. “Neku Sakuraba.”

“Thank you. You can call me Joshua.”

“I never asked.”

Neku turned up the volume of his headphones and turned toward the sky. The clouds were dyed brilliant shades of pink and orange, vibrant in comparison to the rose-tinged sky.   
  
For a few blissful moments he thought that was the end of it, but then he felt a delicate finger tap his shoulder. He ignored it, and the tapping only increased in frequency. Okay, this was fine, he could ignore this.

The finger poked his cheek.

“Oh for the love of— _what?_ ” Neku turned off his music, glaring at the boy—at Joshua. The other looked perfectly casual, as if he hadn’t just been harassing him. No, he just stared pensively at the sky.

“What do you think it means to truly know someone, Neku?”

Oh God, was he trying to talk philosophy? He should have known from the flannel. Neku turned his music back on; maybe he wouldn’t notice and would just keep talking.

“No, Neku, please indulge me. Do any of these people truly know each other? Even as they talk together, even as the alcohol makes them honest and open, they can’t truly let each other in. Everyone lives in their own separate—Neku, where are you going?”

“Away.” Neku had already started standing up to leave. He hadn't found this spot to have a conversation with some prissy kid who thought he was deep.

“Fine, fine, I won’t talk, I’ll just…play on my phone. See?” Joshua took a phone out of his pocket and waved it in the air before opening it up. “No more talking.”

Neku glared at him, but sat back down. It’s not like there was anywhere else quiet to sit…if you could call sitting next to this guy ‘quiet’. Still, true to his word, Joshua stared down at his phone and did not attempt to make conversation. Neku put his headphones back on.

For a few minutes, it was peaceful. Just him, his music, and the rest of the world disappearing. Even the bass of the party was just a comfortable vibration in his chest. The stupid party goers, the Frisbees, the drinks and the sex, and that guy Joshua, they were all gon—

“Okay, actually, I lied.”

Neku jumped, eyes open. His headphones were still on, loud as ever, but he’d just heard Joshua’s voice with the same clarity of someone speaking directly into his ear.

“I was planning to lead up to it, you know, after some bonding and all that, but you haven’t exactly been cooperative. And I have to tell _someone._ ”

Neku turned his head to look at the boy beside him, pulse thudding through his veins. Joshua’s mouth hadn’t moved. Neku slowly slid his headphones off his ears, eyes wide. 

Joshua gave a knowing smile and motioned for him to move closer. Neku adjusted so they were sitting shoulder to shoulder, sharing the same view. Joshua looked upward at the sky, the sunset large and bright against the horizon. He casually raised his hand and drew it across the sky, his fingernails grazing along the end of the sunset. Like magic, it looked as if he made an incision in the sun itself. Slowly it began leaking like a punctured egg yolk, the colours draining and mixing. Neku watched in awe as they dripped down the sky like wet paint, before pooling on top of the rooftops along the distant skyline.

Scrambling to his feet, Neku peeked out from behind the shed to look at everyone else at the party. No one seemed to notice what was happening. He turned back to the sky, darkening with night as the puddle of vibrant colours started draining down past the horizon line, and rubbed at his eyes. When he opened them again, it was still there.

His back slid against the side of the shed until he was once again sitting on the ground beside Joshua. 

“How did you do that?”

Joshua looked nonchalant, inspecting his nails as if traces of the sunset might be stuck under them. “Simple,” he said, once again moving his mouth as he spoke. “I’m God.”

For a second Neku just sat there, agape and stuttering.

“Why are you here?” Neku finally asked.

“Why does anyone come to a party?” Joshua replied, still examining his nails. “Because it’s fun.”

Neku frowned. “So why aren’t you out there enjoying it? Why are you talking to me?”

“Because this also seemed fun. I’m not sure if you know this, Neku, but you’re very funny.” Joshua’s expression finally cracked into a smile, small and mischievous.

Neku didn’t have a reply to that, still processing everything. He was talking to God. At a shitty house party. He didn’t know what to do but keep staring at Joshua, who’s earlier humour quickly seemed to fade into boredom.

“Okay, I’ve shown you a cool trick. What else do people do at parties?”

Neku focused again, his brain slowly clunking back into gear. “Uh, drink? Dance, make out, get high, trash the host’s place...puke?” 

The amused smile crept back onto Joshua’s face. “You don’t seem particularly fond of this scene.”

“Can’t say I am.”

“Hm… Alright.” Joshua turned to face him, thoughtful. “Want to make out?”

Neku jumped away a bit. “Woah, what? _That’s_ the option you chose?”

“It is. Do I not suit your tastes?”

He tried not to think about that question. It’s not like he was new to the idea: he was 70% sure Shiki only liked these parties because when Eri was drunk she would usually kiss her. He’d just never thought about it for himself. He didn’t tend to think about romance in general (not to mention hookups), and he certainly didn’t think about whether or not he was attracted to pretty boys with otherworldly powers.

“I could change my form to something more to your liking, if you want. Any requests?”

“T-this is fine!” Neku rushed it out so fast that he almost didn’t realize he’d ended up agreeing to making out. Joshua’s pleased smile was enough to hammer it home, though.

Joshua shifted so that they were close again, angling himself so that they were facing each other. Neku felt his breath softly ghost over his lips.

“You can put on your music, if you want.”

Without really asking, Joshua tugged Neku’s headphones back onto his ears, the music he’d forgotten to pause washing over him again. Neku felt a bit of comfort from it, and taking one last look at Joshua, he decided to close his eyes and lean in.

It turned out that kissing God didn’t feel like explosions and fireworks. His lips were soft, which almost made Neku self conscious about how chapped his own probably were, but then Joshua was licking into his mouth and he stopped thinking about it.

Joshua didn’t taste like anything other than human tongue, a taste he hadn’t known he knew until he was actively identifying it. Unlike what Shiki’s embarrassing fanfics seemed to describe, there wasn’t really anything else to it; it was kind of slimy, and smooth, and not much else.

But his hair was _really_ soft, almost feather-soft. He’d never touched something this fluffy before, and Shiki had a _cat_. Also, this guy was outrageously light, so much so that when he climbed into Neku’s lap it basically felt like nothing. God, this guy was skinny...his hips felt so small under his hands…

“Shit!”

Neku pulled back, surprised half by the exclamation and half by the fact that he could hear it clearly through his music again. Joshua had also pulled away, wiping saliva from his mouth as his eyes narrowed with irritation.

“I just remembered, if I’m close to mortals for too long my power starts eating away at your soul. We should probably stop.” He shifted off of Neku’s lap, fixing his hair as he got up. Neku merely stared, mouth agape.

“I— what—?”

“Sorry Neku, I don’t want to slowly strip away your life and wind up killing you. You understand.”

“How do you just _FORGET_ something like that?!”

Joshua's mask of disappointment broke; he smiled. Oh, this absolute no-good _bastard_.

He had half a mind to grab him by the collar and see who would be killing who, but Joshua was already stepping away from the shed. “Where the hell are you going?”

“I think I’ve had enough fun tonight. If I stick around, who knows if we’ll be able to keep our hands off each other?” He grinned, setting Neku’s blood boiling. This guy seemed to have a talent for getting under his skin.

“Why’d you even do all this?”

Neku could see an answer forming on his lips, but then Joshua seemed to stop and think it over again. When he met Neku’s eyes a moment later, a certain something sparkled in his eyes despite the darkness that had taken over their corner.

“Because, Neku,” he took another step into the shadows, “who would ever believe you?”

Shiki breathed deeply as she finally made it outside and put the social and literal suffocation of the crowded house behind her. Gazing out at the backyard (how did it get so dark _already_?), she looked for the most secluded spot in hopes that she would find Neku.

It took her a bit of searching, but when she finally peeked behind the shed (she’d been a bit nervous, considering it seemed like a good makeout spot) she found him listening to music. “Neku, there you are!”

Her friend turned to greet her, turning down the volume as he did so. “What?”

She smiled at her friend, feeling as if it had been ages rather than hours since she’d seen him. “Nothing. Did you have fun?”

“Absolutely not.” He dipped down into the collar of his shirt, hiding his face the way he always did when he was feeling avoidant. “...I did...meet someone though.”

Shiki had to lean in close so she could hear him over the noise. “You met someone? What were they like?”

“An asshole. We made out though.”

Shiki _gasped_ , Neku drawing back at the volume of her response. He must have known she’d react this way, though— it was probably the only reason he told her at all. He knew she’d flip.

“Tell me _everything!_ ”

“You first: did Eri end up kissing you again?”

She drew away, red claiming the entirety of her face, and that smug little look came into Neku’s eyes. “Er, okay, yeah, but nothing else happened! She’s asleep on someone’s couch now. Ready to get going?”

“I was ready the moment we got here. Let’s grab your girlfriend and go.”

“ _Neku!!!!”_

**Author's Note:**

> Neku can now say he had a makeout so good he now believes in God.


End file.
